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sheessheen 1. P. H. CATHGART. Rotary-Engine.

No.' 224,146. zPatented Feb. 3,1880.

171 veuyr 2 Sheets-*Sheet 2.

F. H. GATHCART.

Rotary-Engine.

Patented Feb. 3, 1880.

45 .Fignrelisa UNITED STATES.

4P'Afrigiwr OFFICE.

ROTARY ENGINE.

sra'ctfncnnmn fommg` pm of Letten Patent No. 224,146, dated Febriary 3,'18804 ppnuunniea June 12,1819. v I s To all whom 'it may concern f* Be it known that I` FRAM; H. CA"HCART, ot' Washington,v District oflnmbia, have invented certain'hewand useful Improvements in Rotary Enginesgofv which the'following is a speciticatioh. v

The'subject of my invention is arotary en-'f gine constructed with follower-heads' revolvlingf with the rotary piston, their edges being received in annular V- grooves in the cylinder, within the heads thereof'. The cylinder is preferably' divided longitudinally/into two or more parts, alrdinig convenience in mannfaefture and permitting the cylinder to be set upv in contact with. the revolving followers in' event of wear, so as to preserveconstantly steainltight joints hetweentli'e revolving follower-heads and the4 grooves in which they turn. The rotary piston isprovided with two piston slides pressed radially outward by springs. The inner periphery ofthe cylinder is concentric with the shaftfor about one-half of its circumference, and the ports are sodis# posed thu't the `piston-slides are not subjected to any considerable pressure while moving ra dially in and out, lbut sustain vthe main press-- ure of'. the steam while they are out' to their full extent and moving around, the concentric poi-tion of the cylinder. They are'pressed iuward toward tlie'shaft by direct contact of the 4contracted portionl of the cylinder, so as to 'pass an abutment loca-ted midway between the j steam and exhaust ports, and pressed down in'. contact with the periphery of theotary piston either-by aspring or by the stean. 'I The invention furtherrelates to an improved j slide-val e which is operated by directcon-4 viiection ith` a rock-shaft, as hereinafter ldescribed,so rod workin' endwise through a st ning-box-.- 4 In order that the inventionmay be'fully nnderstood', 14 V*will 'proceed to describe it with vrefcrclnce to the accompanying drawings, Ain '--Whic-fmoet; longitudinal seccion of my improved 'c ngineLbn-the liuc' 1 l, Fig.2. Fig. 2 is a transfers@ section .of the sam'eeu the line 2 2, Fi ..1. 'Figa is a perspective view of one oft e follower-heads detached.`

. 5 C C' represent the two partsof the cylinder bolted together through 'ln or flanges L L.

' abutment B l'ment B.

' more radiallyin and out within chambers p to avoid the necessity for a val ve- 1 with the'top ofthe vulve V, sous to dispense with the necessity'ofuny sliding vnivercd or The lower hai .an or'concentri'c withthe shaft vX,while the upper part is contracted and contains a wedge-shaped vertically-sliding abutment, `B, pressed downward byone' or- 55 'f more springs, b, and located midway between 'theiport-s' S S', which are. respectively and interchangeably the steam and exhanstports,

according asthe engine-is running,r inone or -the 'other direction.

Y P represen'tsthe rotary piston turning within the cylinder C C', and mounted concentrically. on the shaft X. The piston l may run 'with itsV upper part nearly or quite in contact wir h the contracted upper portion of the interior of the cylinder, requiring but very slight motion ofthe sliding s s are soup-pleuiental ports, connected with the -niaiu .ports B S andtheinterior of the cyl 7c' inder, in close proximity to" the sliding abut- To'the ends of "the rotary piston- P followers F F are x'ed, either .by through-bolts o r by -bolts H H', as shown. The -iunerfaees of the 7.5 followers are beveledgasshoivli atf in Figs. 1

4of the sliding abutment B,.so thatas thelatter I' is 'pressed 'in .by'its spring constantly tight occur wiltno'tzresnlt infleak'age.

joints will.' be formed, and anywear which may I The followers are constructed with shoulders j?, to 4tit the inner periphery of.. ,thelcylindeiy 'and with-proiecting'V-shaped perpheries tting in corresponding Vgroovesinthe cylinden- The grooves are of greater depthv than the'V-shaped edges of the followers, leaving a space, asshown iu'Elg.' 1, which' is kept'fnll ofoil. -The sliding I'is'tons-orpistou-slidesf" 9' iu'the rotary piston, and areguided by radial grooves -fn' the innerfacesoff. the followers, k'which grooves' are acenrately'inline with the chambers ofthe piston.' O ner more springs, Q, (if-any orm, are employed for pressing thc pistou-slides outward iu lcontact with the in.- :ner pcriphery'of the cylinder.- l f1 'L Y is' a lye working .in a .stencil-chest,l andcpcravd byl roclcshaft, 1?., throngh the medinmofan a1-m, which connwtsdircctly Yother indirect cnununctiou-bctwceu the* 'l' trockenen and thcvalvc.' phil 1 y und the portsin the seat being so proportioned XV represents the-steam-supply pipe, and E the exhaust, which may be carried off in'any mode or direction.

The valve'V 1s employed ing, and reversing the engine, the said valve and arranged that when the valve is placed in its'central positionboth steam-ports SB', will be covered, so as to stop the engine, and when it is placed at either extremity, of its stroke either one or the other of the steamports S S' will beplaced in'communication with the steam-chest andthe other inconnectionwith -the exhaust, so as to runfthe engine in either direction required.

'The operation is as follows: Snpposing thc yvalve to'be in the `position shown in Fig. 2,

the piston P .will turn in 'the 'direction indicated by the arrow l, the arrows'f indicating the direction ot' thelive. steamsnd arrows 3 the direction of .the/exhaust. One of the'pis ton-slides I is seen at tsrfull extent of projection and rccei vin gthcfnll pressnre'of steam;

from the port S, the position of this pistonslide 'relativelyA -to the pistou P not having L changed since-it entered ythe'concentric p'ortion ofthe cylinder in passing thefsteam-port S. The other piston`-`slide has retiredv Withinthe-piston by-contact with thecontracte'd up.

perportionof thecylinder, and,reaching the abutment B, passes easily beneaththe same,

lpressing the said abutment up slightly if there be any space between the upper side of the piston C and the middle .of the contracted portion of theiiiterioripttheeylinder.js- As soon asthe pisto`nslide-- begins to move radially outwardthe supplemental steam-port s' admits steam behind it, so as to prevent the formation of a vacuum. A A' balanced pressure passes-the uniin steam-port S', whenitreaches.

` inactive orunderhalancedpressure dnrin'g'theother half, und that the supplemental ports s' s' have the further moet of preventing dead.

is thus applied to the 'opposite faces of the piston-'slide while'itis sliding `o ut and until it its extreme projection and; becomes active fin rotating .thev shaft, which it lcontinues to do until it reaches the 'main exhaust-port S', after which it becoiues'in'activ'e, the supplemental 'exhnnstfport v#preventing any compressionin advance' ot" the' piston, and causing. -the pressure to :be equal on its opposite faces until 1t retires completely' within the rotary jeton. It will thusbe seen that euch' piston-s ide is active during one hnlf of its revolutionf'and centers by placing the leading face` of one slide in fnlloommnncation with the exhaust and the rearface of lthe other in full communication with the steam at the instant they 'are passing thenmin ports S S'.

The grooves f and the. chambers p in the piston, within which the piston-slides work rndially, being accurately in line with the steampressu're, keep tlie'said pistonslidcs in close contact with the forward faces of the said for stopping, start-4 'desire 'tn'secnre by Letters, Patenti -structed with beveled' acesf j tight contact with the self-pa`cking abutment. B, and with grooves f ff tosuiport and guide grooves and chambers, so as to automatically pack the oints and prevent unypossibility of escape of? steam into the exhaust portion of' the cylinde.. The same elfect occurs on-the the necessity-of ilbrous or -otherfpaching in e Avalve may be operated by a simple le 'front face of 'sliding abutment B.' Allthe 7o. kmovin g parts being thus automatically packed,

ver. U, as shown; or it muy be connected with '75 a link-motion or :shook-motion in the ordi'- nary manner for reversing; or it may be connected with a cut-oil', so as to cnt olf the steam' at any desired part ofthe stroke 'or efectivomovement -ef` the pistoni-slide, so as to work 8 0 thel steam expansively.l Anyprei'erred Yalvegeur may vbe used for working the steam `expunsively. lI employ 'separateeut-off valves on the sides-of the cylinder neartheroutlet .of'the ports S S,'t he valve'thron1 li'which 85 steam enters being connectedwith tie cutfol.

-By loeatiiigtheyalves closeito 'the 'openings ofthe steamfports on each 'sldeI dispense with the long vcox-eed siemnfptssagesY and avoid the oss of steam containedjthereim and also rei-'f90 ,Cups l' Y are employed to supply oil-to the V-groovesin. the vcylimegnnd cork Z'Z draw oif said'oil when necessary, so that may be strained and reused.v Any desired'lubricatin'g material muy be applied in the spaces between the rotating followers and the 'cylinder-heads.

.Light mckingglands 'y y' outside ofthe heads around the shaft to 'prevent the escape4 of thesaid lubricating ma terial.

Having'thus described invention, 4the following what I claim as new th'erein and 1.;In arotary 'engine -the followers conto' work in the radially-moving pstondide's P, tis ex plained.

2. In a rotary engine, the combination of the rotarypiston P, the follower-heads F F,

and a cylinder., C, inadc iii two or more parts,

with V-shaped grooves forrcc'eiving the peripheries of said follower-heads, in the inanner and furthe purposes described.

FRANKH.' Uit'inoAnfr.

Witnesses :x

OcuviUs KNIGii'r, WALTns ALLEN. 4

areapplied on the 

